Knowledge or Death
by violethowler
Summary: Humanity hasn't invented the airplane or even discovered electricity yet, but that doesn't stop five teens from dreaming of what it's like to travel through the stars. The Great Library AU featuring High Garda!Shiro, Artifex!Hunk, High Garda!Lance, Artifex!Pidge, and Obscurist!Keith. On Hiatus
1. Prologue

**Since there are no crossovers on for Rachael Caine's amazing steampunk alternate history series _The Great Library_ , I decided to make one myself. And the image of a Voltron/Great Library crossover has been burrowing around inside my head for a while now. I figured it would be a fun idea of an AU where the Paladins are living in a very low tech world and going from that to the advanced technology of Voltron, the Galra, etc. **

**7/27/18: Rewriting the story to work in elements of characters' backstories that weren't known at the time I first posted this.**

 **Before I get started, let me just lay out the ground rules of how this story will be formatted.**

"Talking"

 _Thinking_

 _"Written text"_

 **"Codex message"**

 **And a quick explanation before we start: In the Great Library books, each chapter is preceded by Ephemera. These are short interludes that typically consist of either written exchanges between characters about major events happening on and off "screen", or a character's personal diary entries reflecting on the events of the previous chapter. I'll be keeping up with that as I write this story so I just wanted to give everyone a heads up.**

* * *

 **Ephemera**

* * *

 **Text of a letter from the Artifex Magnus to the Archivist Magister, in the year 1983, secured and coded at the highest level of security. Destroyed upon reading.**

 _"The last of the preparations have been made. The entire crew has been informed of the dangers associated with this assignment and have agreed to the risks. Everything is ready. However, I feel at this crucial juncture I must inform you of my concerns. Our newest Obscurist has been completely unruly since he was brought to the Iron Tower. Keith Kogane has been belligerent with the Obscurist Magnus, and only cooperates with us because of Captain Shirogane's involvement in this project. While his power as an Obscurist is unmatched, I feel that it was a mistake to involve him in the Lunar Exploration Project. Should the project team perish, Kogane has enough knowledge of the expedition to destroy public confidence in the Library. Something must be done to curb his rebelliousness._

 _Nevertheless, we await your order to proceed._

 _Tota Est Scientia."_

* * *

 **Reply from the Archivist. Destroyed upon reading.**

 _"Do not worry about Kogane. The Obscurist Magnus has assured me that should any unfortunate accident befall our trio of explorers, he will be confined to the tower until he can be allowed near the formulae of Codices without fear of him tampering with them. Scholar Holt's wife signed confidentiality agreements promising not to speak of the project to the public in the unlikely event of her husband and son's deaths. If anything goes wrong with this project, we will station High Garda near her home and increase surveillance of her communications, both written and verbal. In any case, a potential Burner attack is a far greater concern than the possibility of a grieving young man lashing out at those he holds responsible for his brother's death._

 _Today is a momentous day. After two decades of work, we are finally sending human beings beyond the reaches of Earth's atmosphere. While Scholar Goddard's liquid-fuel rocket was too dangerous to be produced, the idea of travelling beyond the limits of Earth to explore the stars is a noble goal. Today will be the final determination of whether such ideas are great aspirations intended to be championed as goals to aspire towards, or foolish delusions that must be consigned to the Black Archive to ensure that humanity does not go where we are not meant to go._

 _You have your orders. Proceed as planned._

* * *

 **Prologue**

* * *

 _"Status update?"_

Takashi Shirogane let out a relieved sigh as the letters scratched themselves into the page of his Codex. _Good_ , he thought to himself as the text finished forming on the paper. _My Codex can still get a signal this far from Earth_. It had taken the brightest minds of the Great Library over half a century to come this far, and now, they had finally done it. They were standing on the surface of Earth's moon. It had taken thirteen Obscurists and half the Artifex division decades just to figure out how to put a Translation Chamber on the moon. After that was another twenty years of creating the suits that allowed him and his crew to survive outside of Earth's atmosphere. They'd been reconstituted inside the metallic pod an hour ago, and while Scholar Holt and his son Matt were outside in their "Atmosphere Suits" as the Artifex Magnus had christened the bulky things, Shiro was inspecting the Translation equipment inside the hut-like structure making sure that none of the equipment was damaged and securing it in the low gravity. Shiro smiled as he pulled out a stylus and penned his reply.

 _"We made it. We're alive."_

With his response sent, he closed the notebook and pocketed the pen. Judging by how long it had taken for the message to reach his codex, it would take another hour for Keith to receive the status report in his own journal back on Earth, and then another hour for Shiro to receive his friend's reply. Against the objections of the Artifex Magnus, Keith had been placed in charge of the expedition's communications because of both his connection with Shiro, and because of his skill in manipulating the alchemical formulae the Obscurists used to operate virtually every aspect of the Great Library. This expedition was unprecedented, and since they were leaping into the unknown with no way of knowing if they would survive, Shiro had put his foot down and insisted that Keith be a part of the project.

At twenty-four, Shiro was one of the youngest High Garda Commanders in the history of the Great Library. He'd graduated from the training program in Alexandria at the top of his class and had been promoted to captain almost straight out of High Garda training. Gossip around the complex speculated that he'd probably be running the entire High Garda before he turned thirty. If he said he wanted his closest friend and adopted younger brother to work on the Lunar Exploration Project, then Keith would, the Artifex's paranoia be damned. Once Shiro was satisfied that everything was intact and secured, he hopped away from the Translation pod that had been sent up in advance of the mission towards where the other two members of the crew were gathering samples.

"Be careful, son," The older man told the youngest one. "These samples are delicate." While Scholar Samuel Holt's theories about the existence of life outside Earth were seen by the Library administration as childish at best and dangerous at worst, Shiro still had great respect for the man, and considered the elder Holt to be the smartest man he'd ever met. He'd also become good friends with both of Scholar Holt's children during the year they'd spent preparing for the mission, although only Matt was joining them today. Matt was about the same age as Keith and had been finishing his Artifex training when he'd been offered the change to explore beyond the reaches of Earth's atmosphere. Over the last year, Shiro had quickly learned that Matt and his sister Katie had always shared their father's dream of walking among the stars.

"Amazing," Matt Holt whispered as he sealed the sample bag and handed it to the High Garda lieutenant assigned for security on this mission. "Isn't this exciting, Shiro?" The twenty-four-year-old shrugged.

"You guys get a little more excited about rock samples than I do," Takashi "Shiro" Shirogane replied with a teasing chuckle as he leaped through the low gravity to the large hunk of metal that had delivered them there. It had taken the Obscurists in the Iron Tower four years to prepare for this journey, but despite his nonchalant façade, Shiro was still amazed at where they were standing. Adam had been concerned about his health, but the trip wasn't planned to last more than twelve hours. That and Scholar Holt's reputation as the best Medica in the Library was enough to ease his fiancé's worries. Few knew about Shiro's illness, and the only person to object to him being on the mission was the Artifex Magnus. But nobody considered the man's opinions since he'd made it clear from the beginning he was biased against the project and was looking for any excuse he could to shut it down.

"This is history in the making, boys," Scholar Samuel Holt said as he collected another sample of lunar soil. "We are the first human beings to ever set foot beyond the boundaries of Earth's atmosphere. And not only that, this could be the stepping stone to studying the possibilities of life outside Earth."

"Think about it, Dad," Matt commented as his father passed him the sample bag to seal. "We could be the first people to meet extra-terrestrials."

"That would be a dream come true," the older Scholar replied dreamily. Shiro almost chuckled at the situation. He'd heard that sigh many times before while attending some of the elder Holt's lectures about the possibility that humankind wasn't alone in the universe. Many in the Library had mocked the man for it, but to Shiro, that was the sigh of a man who knew his dream could be achieved if only people set aside their preconceptions and see what he could see. So he didn't begrudge the man for taking every chance he could to express his satisfaction with finally starting down the road to proving his theories. But the peaceful, almost serene moment was soon ruined as the ground began to shake around them.

"What is that?" Scholar Holt asked incredulously. "Seizmic activity?" _That can't be right_ , the young commander thought to himself as he regained his footing. _The moon doesn't have the plate tectonics necessary for seismic activity. But that's not a priority right now_.

"We should get back to the Translation Pod," Shiro suggested firmly as he moved to start pulling the Holts in the direction of the pod. But before they could leave their dig site, a massive shape loomed on the horizon. Head on, it resembled the bottom piece of a clarinet, but the rows of purple lights training behind along the dark metallic surface only confirmed to the trio that whatever that object was, it hadn't come from Earth.

"It can't be," the elder Holt gasped. For a moment, Shiro and Matt were too stunned to speak. For centuries, Library Scholars had debated and theorized on the existence of life beyond Earth. And now, definitive proof loomed above them in the sky like a jug of Greek Fire about to splash down on their heads. Takashi snapped out of his stupor at the sight of a bright light beginning to emit from the top of the alien ship's bow, between two hull protrusions which made it look like a dragon about to breath fire.

"Come on," he called out as he grabbed the Holts by the hand and rushed back to the Translation Pod as fast as their bulky space suits would allow. "Run!" But it was already too late. The alien vessel released its beam, sending a wave of pink light sweeping over the area. Gravity seemed to reverse as it swept toward the three explorers, sucking lunar rocks and their own equipment up towards the metallic maw. Shiro cried out in surprise as the beam swept over him and his companions and they too, were sucked up towards the strange ship.

When he regained consciousness, he found himself on his knees in front of a tall, imposing figure aboard the strange vessel, his hands bound behind his back and his helmet removed. For a moment, he panicked expecting to find himself choking from lack of oxygen. He quickly realized that he was still breathing, and calmed down as he noted that the ship had a breathable atmosphere.

"Emperor Zarkon," he heard a voice say as he blinked to force away the residual fatigue of unconsciousness. "We were scouting system X9Y as ordered when we found these primitive scientists. I don't think they know anything useful." Shiro frantically looked up as he snapped awake to see a humanoid figure standing before a large window. Were it not for his surroundings, Shiro would have thought that the person was human. But despite the similar body type, the full body metallic armor and purple skin were a dead giveaway that he was about to make first contact with an alien civilization. The being stood before a device that appeared to be little more than a transparent sheet of glass suspended in front of the vessel's front windows, addressing someone who appeared to be a leader in their civilization.

"Take them back to the main fleet for interrogation," a second voice emitted directly from the image, much to Shiro's surprise. "The druids will find out what they know." Fear coursed through the twenty-four-year-old as he realized that these extra-terrestrial beings did not have peaceful intentions. He looked to his right and saw that Scholar Holt and Matt were still unconscious. That left just him to speak on behalf of their planet.

"Please," he called out to the alien in front of him. "We come from a peaceful planet. We mean you no harm. We're unarmed." Before he could say anything else, he felt the familiar pain of a rifle being smacked against the back of his head. The last thing thought that course through his mind before he passed out again was worry about what Keith and Adam would think when the crew's next status update never came. The next time he woke up, he found himself being dragged through the metal corridors of the alien vessel by his hands. The Holts were being prodded along by guards that, from what Shiro could tell were similar in function to Library automata.

"They brought in another one," he heard a deep voice say to his left. He turned to see a pair of eyes peeking out from a small slit in a door that clearly led to a prison cell. As he blinked away the spots in his vision, he looked to his right and saw rows upon rows of pink tinted windows showing similar cells, extending onward so far that Shiro couldn't even see the end. The young man's eyes widened in horror as he realized just how far out of his depth he and his colleagues really were.

* * *

 **I borrowed the dialogue from the first episode to illustrate that despite the different technology levels, the circumstances behind Shiro and the Holts' abduction are more or less the same.**

 **So before we begin the story proper, let me just lay out the basic ground rules for the universe of The Great Library for those who haven't read the books yet. In this series, the library of Alexandria, Egypt never burned down like it did in real life, and has gone on to become a global institution with political power on par with real-life first-world countries. But over the centuries, the library has hoarded its knowledge, only allowing information to be made available to the public in small drips. The Library administration sees it as their duty to guide the development of mankind, and does this by "protecting" them from knowledge they consider dangerous. So despite the public having access to more knowledge than they did in the ancient times, by the 21st century, people live in a steampunk world that at times borders on Magitech. Private ownership of books is forbidden, punishable by fines, prison, or execution depending on the rarity of the book. In the late 1800s, a terrorist movement called the Burners sprang up in protest of the Library's ironclad control over what people could and could not read, but they get little sympathy from anyone in the series because, as their name implies, their methods involve book burning, and setting themselves (and others) on fire in public places.**

 **Some basic terminology that will crop up a lot in the TGL aspects of the story:**

 **Codex:** **A blank book that people can download titles available in the Library collection for public reading. Basically a pseudo-fantasy version of a Kindle or other ebook reading device. Can also be used to send messages.**

 **Archivist:** **The chief administrator of the Great Library.**

 **High** **Garda : The Great Library's private security force. **

**Artifex:** **The Library's engineering division.**

 **Medica:** **The branch of the library specializing in medicine, anatomy, and other biology-based sciences.**

 **Lingua:** **Based on tumblr speculation, appears to be the Library's Linguistics department. I originally had Matt and Sam as Medica, but since Matt was revealed to have been the communications officer on the Kerberos mission, I felt linguistics would fit better with that role.**

 **Obscurist:** **Alchemists with semi-supernatural abilities who work for the library to power all the fantasy elements of the series like Codices. Paper and Fire, the second book in the series, basically says that Obscurists' abilities are a combination of magic and alchemy.**

 **Translation:** **Teleportation fueled by the Obscurists' alchemy.**


	2. Chapter 1

**I just wanted to establish a few things right now that I'm getting the story started. First of all, even though the books only had one main POV character, I'm going have things be a little different. Each chapter is going to be split between the points of view of two Paladins, and it will rotate each chapter. For example, the first half of this chapter is from Lance's POV, and the second half is from Hunk's. Next chapter will be Pidge and Keith, and then so on and so forth. Second is that, excluding the prologue, this story will have approximately ten chapter, and will focus specifically on the pilot episode.**

 **There will be a sequel, but I'm going to wait until season 3 comes out before I start it, because I'm undecided at this point whether the sequel will be a full story adapting the first season based on everything that happens in this fic, or a series of one-shots set over the course of the first two seasons. It will all depend on whether or not they go back to Earth in Season 3 or not.**

* * *

 **Ephemera**

* * *

 **From the personal journal of Obscurist Keith Kogane (Interdicted to Black Archives)**

 _"_ _The obituary they printed for Shiro in the Alexandria times was complete garbage. I know Shiro and the Holts made it to the moon. Shiro's Codex message confirms it. But the Artifex Magnus has always hated the whole Lunar Exploration Project, so as soon as the instruments monitoring the translation capsule went offline, he declared Shiro and the others dead without a second thought. And when I tried to show him the codex message from Shiro saying that they were alive, he brushed me off."_

 _"_ _I suppose I brought some of this on myself, though. The entire time I've been in the Iron Tower, I've fought with my fellow Obscurists, cooked up acidic compounds in the alchemy labs, and just generally been an uncooperative jerk to everyone around me. The only reason I behaved myself for this project was because Shiro had insisted that I be a part of it. Maybe they might have listened to me if I had been better behaved before._

 _Oh, who am I kidding. They still wouldn't listen to me, and I'd never have been able to behave myself in here. The Iron Tower is nothing more than a gilded cage. The Library clings to the Obscurists like a bear trap clamped around an animal's limb. I've seen some of the inventions that get sent to the Black Archives. If only the Library would just build a press printer or whatever those machines people keep inventing are called, then maybe they could stop relying on Obscurist labor to maintain their grip on power, and I could finally leave this place._

 _With Shiro gone, they don't trust me. I have an armed escort every time I leave my room, and they took away my private codex. I already know that everything I write in my journal is monitored and sent to the Black Archives. The only tasks I'm allowed to do are transcribing official messages into the Codex, and even then, I'm watched constantly, to make sure I don't try to contact anyone outside the tower."_

 _"_ _The only upside is that I'm being held back from the breeding program until I demonstrate that I can "behave like a proper Obscurist." Yeah, right. As if there was anything noble about having sex with a woman I barely know against both of our wills, just so that the Library can delay the inevitable for one more generation. But as much as I hate the library's stubborn reliance on a dwindling Obsucrist population when better ways of maintaining their infrastructure exist, I'd bite my tongue, swallow my pride, and play my part if it meant that I could find a way to bring Shiro home."_

 _"_ _I know you'll never be able to read this, Shiro, but please, wherever you are, just come home. I'd willingly spend the rest of my life in this place if it meant knowing you're safe. Because right now, nothing could be worse than not knowing."_

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

* * *

Lance sulked as he and his classmates rode in the steam carriage back to Ptolemy House. Today had not been a good day. Their assignment for today's class had been to participate in an actual High Garda raid on a local book smuggler. It wasn't any of the big names. The administration wasn't stupid. They weren't going to throw partially trained Postulants into the shark infested waters before their training was even complete. No. It had just been a small-time thief who traded volumes simply for the illegal thrill of having a book to themselves. Lance didn't have anything against trading copies of common volumes, but the rare ones were where he drew the line. Rare books only had a handful of copies left in existence, and if they were stolen or destroyed, the knowledge within was lost forever.

Those were the cases where Lance agreed with the Library's mantra "when you steal a book, you steal from the world." But in any case, it was irrelevant. The man had been a lowlife smuggler, his stockpile of contraband consisting only of poorly transcribed copies of books already accessible in the Core Collection from any Codex. It should have been easy. But between Hunk getting self so worked up that he vomited all over the books, and Pidge constantly commenting on everything he was doing wrong, it had been a disaster. It was only thanks to their instructor, Scholar Iverson, that the smuggler had even been caught at all. _Hunk's just lucky he didn't vomit on any of the Originals,_ Lance thought to himself. _Otherwise Iverson would have really been angry._ As the steam carriage arrived back at the students' dormitories, Lance climbed out of the carriage and looked up at the sky.

Night had fallen on the city of Alexandria and the great pyramid of the Library loomed in the distance, jutting up into the night sky like an arrow piercing the heavens. Lance grinned as his eyes leaped from the imposing pyramid to the constellations glittering in the night sky. Whenever he felt overwhelmed by the rigorous competition for a place in the ranks of the Library, he'd discovered early on that stargazing calmed him. At moments like this, he found the looking at the stars and contemplating the universe beyond Earth to be a calming experience for him. He just hoped that when humanity finally reached out for the stars, he'd be alive to see it. But in the meantime, he was happy training to join the High Garda. Just like his hero.

Lance had been devastated when he saw the obituary for Takashi Shirogane in the newspaper a year ago. As the youngest High Garda captain in history, Shiro had been Lance's idol. Intelligent, confident, and popular with the ladies, Shiro was everything Lance wanted to be. Despite his bravado and his apparent ego, deep down he was afraid of the possibility that he wasn't good enough. In all of his studies, Lance had never really found any particular subject that interested him. He didn't have the mechanical inclinations required to be an Artifex, nor did he have the patience for Medica. Seeing Takashi Shirogane become a High Garda Captain at been the inspiration Lance had needed, and given him a goal to work towards. Learning that his childhood hero was dead had been a huge blow for him.

Lance sighed as he tore his gaze away from the stars and headed back inside the confines of Ptolemy House. Most of the Postulants had retired to their own rooms, but a few students remained out in the common room sipping coffee as the smell of something baking wafted in from the dormitory's kitchen. Lance smiled. Of course, Hunk would be cooking after a day like this. Lance had known the big guy for years, and knew him well enough to know that cooking always calmed him down after a stressful day. He sampled the recipe like he always did, with Hunk only partially teasing him as he told him not to touch the food while he was cooking. As Hunk put the dish in the oven, Lance took a seat in one of the recliner chairs in the common area and closed his eyes, listening to the chatter of conversation going on around him.

The next thing he knew, Hunk was tapping him on the shoulder. Lance groggily opened his eyes and saw that everyone else had gone to bed, and he could see through the window that the sky was darker than it had been when he'd gotten back to the dormitory. _I must have really been tired,_ he thought to himself as Hunk asked for some help with the dishes. Lance agreed, knowing that Hunk would be up for hours otherwise. He rubbed his eyes and told Hunk that he needed to use the washroom in their shared room before they started cleaning.

Lance turned into the hallway leading to the bedrooms and stopped in his tracks when he saw Pidge climb out the window at the other end of the hall with a bag on his back. _Where is he going?_ Lance wondered as his fellow Postulant dropped down from the windowsill and vanished into the night. Without thinking, Lance raced down the hall to the window and peered out. He caught a flash of the other boy's green undershirt before Pidge took off in the direction of the Iron Tower. Lance's eyes widened in confusion and concern. Postulants weren't supposed to be out of their dorm after dark. And if Pidge was about to do something illegal, it could damage everyone else's chance of getting a commission at the Library.

Thinking quickly, Lance raced back into the common area to find Hunk putting away the leftover food and cleaning off the dirty dishes. Worried for his classmate's safety and concerned for his class ranking, Lance grabbed Hunk by the collar of his shirt and dragged him towards the door.

"Lance!" Hunk protested. "What are you doing?"

"Pidge just snuck out the back window and took off," he explained. "We need to find out what he's up to." With that, the two teens took off at a run into the night.

* * *

"We shouldn't be doing this," Hunk commented nervously as they crept through the streets of Alexandria, scurrying like mice in the direction of the Iron Tower and hoping to stumble across their classmate. Hunk honestly liked Pidge, even if the guy was a bit closed off and didn't really talk to any of the other Postulants much. He could tell that there was something weighing the other boy down, even if they were too stubborn to open up to anyone and admit it.

"We're gonna grab Pidge, get him back to Ptolemy House so he doesn't get himself in trouble, and be back before anyone even realizes that any of us were gone," Lance replied, trying to be reassuring. In Hunk's opinion, he was failing miserably at that. He and Lance had been friends long before they took the Library's entrance exams, but sometimes Lance tried to push the envelope too far when it came to being adventurous. Unfortunately, that left Hunk with the job of trying to reign in his friend's more impulsive moments. Like right now, for instance. Sadly, he was having as much success with that as Lance was with trying to reassure him.

"I'm just saying this here, right now, on the record," he said anxiously as they ducked behind a building to a void a trio of drunk merchants walking down the street. "This is a bad idea." Once the coast was clear, they emerged from their hiding spot and ran down the street. Hunk didn't like the way this night was going, and he'd much rather be back at Ptolemy House snacking on some of his own recipes, but he couldn't bring himself to let Lance go charging off alone.

"You know," Lance commented as they sprinted down an alleyway. "For someone studying at the Great Library of Alexandria, you don't have much of a sense of adventure."

"All of your ideas of adventure would get us all expelled if I let you go through with them," Hunk retorted nervously as they ducked under the open window of a store that stayed open at night. The two friends managed to avoid being spotted by a High Garda patrol by turning at the nearest intersection in the sandy streets of Alexandria when they finally arrived at the Iron Tower. Despite his fear of being dismissed from the class, Hunk couldn't help but marvel at the sight. As an aspiring Artifex, he loved studying all kinds of engineering, from the smallest machines to the largest buildings. And despite its misleading name, Hunk was nevertheless awed at how the architects of the Tower had managed to either discover or invent a type of metal that had not suffered a single incident of rust, wear, and tear in its entire history. Hunk dreamed of being able to learn the ancient building's secrets one day.

 _But,_ he reminded himself. _I can kiss those dreams goodbye if we get caught._ As he and Lance circled the plaza that surrounded the tower, his fear of being caught increased tenfold. He was about to suggest going back to Ptolemy House and hoping that Pidge came back before morning when Lance tapped his shoulder. He looked up in the direction Lance was pointing in and saw Pidge running across the rooftops surrounding the plaza. Lance gestured for Hunk to lift him up to the roof of the nearest building. Getting Lance to the top had been easy, but it took another five minutes before he reached the top himself. He and Lance both looked ahead to see Pidge crouched behind a pile of boxes two buldings over, on the roof of the nearest building to the Iron Tower. Lance was about to wave to their classmate when an explosion rocked the city.

Hunk whirled around to see a massive plume of green flames climbing into the air a few blocks away from the Iron Tower. _No!_ Hunk thought as he panicked at the sight of Greek Fire. _Pidge was too friendly. He couldn't be a Burner!_ He was about to say more when he saw High Garda troops streaming away from the Iron Tower in the direction of the toxic blaze. Suddenly it occurred to Hunk that while everyone was up in arms worrying about the blaze, the Iron Tower would be almost totally vulnerable. _But why would Pidge want to break into the Iron Tower?_ Hunk speculated, thinking back and realizing that he didn't really know anything about his classmate beyond what Pidge had shared about his family history.

At the sight of the deadly flames, Hunk knew that it was time to head back to Ptolemy House and pretend they never saw anything. Lance, however, had other ideas.

"Hunk," he said, the slight edge to his voice betraying the fact that he was just as nervous as Hunk was. "Think about this for a second. If Pidge gets caught, they're going to question the whole class. And if they figure out that we knew about Pidge breaking into the Tower and did nothing, we'll be shipped back home faster than you can say "Go". If we follow Pidge, we can stop him from making such a huge mistake and save ourselves at the same time." Hunk didn't like the situation, but he reluctantly had to agree with Lance's logic. So Hunk begrudgingly followed Lance as they raced off after Pidge, reaching the roof they'd just seen him in in time to see him climbing the walls of the Tower.

* * *

 **Lance and Hunk refer to Pidge as he because they don't know the truth yet. Once they find out, they'll switch to the correct pronouns. And because everyone has their own opinions on whether Pidge is transgender or agender, or whatever head-canon they have, I just want to clarify that I will be sticking to canon according to the creators' comments, which are that regardless of whether she is any of the above, Pidge still choses to identify as female. Just warning everyone now so they know in advance that I'm not going to be throwing support for anyone's head-canons.**

 **Terminology:**

 **Postulants:** **Students training to become full-time staff members of the Library's central staff.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Head's up, this chapter is going to have a tiny amount of graphic content because I'll be describing what Translation looks like, but it will be the only time it happens on screen in this story, so just forewarning you all now.**

* * *

 **Ephemera**

* * *

 **Text of a coded, self-deleting Codex exchange between Pidge Gunderson and Keith Kogane**

 _"_ _Is everything ready"_

 _"_ _Yeah. I've got everything I need. I tested the chemicals you described, and I've managed to figure out the ingredients you were missing. I've got enough explosives in my bag to create an explosion that looks like Greek Fire without the risk of harming innocent bystanders. Are you certain about the security patrols?_

 _"_ _Trust me. I've been locked up in here for nearly two years. I know enough of its secrets to make sure you don't get caught."_

 _"_ _Alright. Is there anything else I should know about before I leave?"_

 _"_ _All you have to do is get inside the tower. I'll worry about our escape plan."_

 _"_ _Okay then. I guess this is it. One way or another we'll find out the truth."_

 _"_ _Good luck."_

 _"_ _See you soon."_

 _" –_ _X – "_

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

* * *

Katie Holt, known to her fellow postulants by the alias of Pidge Gunderson, bit her lip to keep from crying out in fear as she clung to the smooth sides of the Iron Tower. She felt helpless as the magnets in her cloves gripped the imposing spire's outer walls. _You can do this,_ she told herself as she moved herself along the tower one foot at a time. The custom-made running shoes her mother had gotten her for her birthday pressed against the wall, keeping her from sliding down to the ground. All she needed to do was make it far enough away from the rooftop she'd just jumped off of before she let herself drop down to ground level. Pidge grunted as the straps of her bag dug into her shoulders. She wished she could make her load lighter, but everything in the bag was essential for her plans for the night. One year of research, infiltration, and clandestine black market shopping had been leading up to this moment. She would not fail now. Not when she was so close.

Pidge smiled as she remembered how much she'd enjoyed teasing Matt in the months leading to the Lunar Exploration Project. Back then, the one thing more than anything else was to be going into space with them. She had always been fascinated with the idea of life outside Earth and what those civilizations might look like. But the Library's training program didn't accept postulants under the age of sixteen, so she'd been resigned to hearing of her father and brother's stories until she was old enough for an employment contract with the Library and could go herself. But then everything came crashing down when the Archivist Magister himself came to their home, offering his condolences for their losses. After that, her goals shifted from exploring the universe to bringing her family home alive.

At first, she'd been willing to accept the cover up. The entire family had signed contracts swearing not to reveal the details of the program if Matt and her dad didn't make it home, and her mom spent countless nights before the expedition worrying that something could go wrong. But a few days after the Archivist's visit, an encrypted message appeared in her Codex. It had only appeared there for a few seconds before erasing itself, leading her to conclude that she'd imagined it. But when it reappeared a few seconds later, she knew someone was trying to talk to her. Before the expedition, she'd known of Keith only in passing. Shiro spoke of his friend often, occasionally sharing embarrassing stories of stupid things they'd both done as children. All it took was a few answers that only someone who knew Shiro as close as the High Garda captain seemed to be with Keith for Pidge to verify the identity of her mysterious pen pal.

Keith had informed her of the truth of what had really happened to her brother and her dad. He'd opened her eyes to the morally gray inner workings of the Library, and once she knew the truth, there was no going back. In retrospect, she was amazed that she never got caught. Petty street crime was low enough that nobody ever expected pickpockets, even though the extreme frequency of Burner attacks forced the Library to take direct control of the government. But despite the bizarre paradox, Pidge was able to amass a small fortune in only six months. If she'd been caught, not even her father's position could save her from the hangman's noose.

Because of his position in the Library, her father was one of the few allowed to have Originals in his home. He kept them under lock and key in his study in case of a break in, and after the Archivist's visit, her mother locked the study door and refused to go in. Pidge dreaded having to tell her dad that she'd sold every one of those Originals on the black market to fund her quest to bring him home. But that was another problem for another time. _Right now,_ she thought as she reached her next checkpoint directly above the tower's main entrance. _I could really use that second distraction._

As if on cue, a second explosion rocked the surrounding area, causing the tower to vibrate slightly. She'd set this one up closer to the tower to provoke the High Garda into leaving the entrance unguarded long enough for her to sneak in. And it seemed to be working. Once it seemed that the coast was clear and the Tower security staff were away from the main entrance, she pulled herself off the face of the Tower and dropped ten feet to the edge of the doorframe and swung herself inside. Landing on her feet, she quickly pressed herself up against the wall and held her breath. No High Garda reinforcements came charging down the hall to arrest her, so she took off at a run up the main stairs.

When she her one of the Tower's interior security patrols heading in her direction, she ducked inside a supply closet. As the patrol passed, she took her Codex from her bag and scribbled a brief message to Keith.

 _"_ _Made it inside. I'm hunkered down in the supply closet next to the lift cage on the third floor."_

Keith was always the one to initiate their back and forth conversations because he was the only one who knew how hiding the alchemical formulae to encrypt their conversations worked. But now, secrecy no longer mattered. By the time the Obscurists in charge of monitoring Codex messages to figure it out, it would already be too late to stop them.

She was about to put the book back in her bag when a message scribbled itself inside the tome.

 _"_ _On my way"_

Satisfied that her partner in crime was en route, she shoved the Codex back into her back along with the stylus. As she pulled the black bandana around her neck over her nose to conceal her facial features, she heard voices coming down the hallway. Concerned that the High Garda had figured out her little deception with the fake Greek Fire already, she carefully opened the door a crack and was surprised to see Lance and Hunk run into view, panting and gasping for breath. _What are those idiots doing here?_ She wondered furiously to herself. Without thinking, she opened the door and gestured for them to join her in the closet before they got themselves caught.

"What are you guys doing here?" she demanded, whispering harshly as she closed the door and gestured for them to be quiet.

"We were looking for you," Hunk replied. "What are you doing here? Why did you set up Greek Fire explosions? Are you a Burner?" Pidge recoiled at the mere suggestion that she would even associate with those terrorists.

"Of course, I'm not a burner," she snapped. "I want to be an Artifex, not a suicide bomber."

"Well then why are you breaking into the Iron Tower then?" Lance asked angrily as Hunk tried to get everyone to quiet down so they wouldn't get caught. Pidge took a deep breath to calm herself down. She was mildly friendly with Hunk, but she wasn't ready to just reveal all her personal secrets to her classmates just yet. At least, not like this, hiding in a storage closet while the two boys screwed up an operation she and Keith had been planning for months.

"Answers," Pidge told them.

"What answers?" Lance demanded hysterically, the fear in his voice tipping Pidge off to the fact that. "What's so important that you had to commit treason against the Library and break into the freaking Iron Tower!?"

"My family," she replied bluntly. "And I'm going to find out what happened to them no matter what it takes. The fact that you followed me will only make you look guilty to the High Garda. So you can either help me, or get out of my way." Before either of the two boys could say anything, they were interrupted by the sound of the door creaking open behind them. Without thinking, Pidge pulled a gun from her bag and wheeled around to face the intruder.

* * *

Keith blinked in surprise as he opened the door to the storage room on the third floor to find a gun being pointed at his face. He froze as he took in the rest of the room. Katie lowered the gun once she realized it was him, but what concerned Keith was the fact that she wasn't alone. There were two boys only a year younger than he was hiding in the closet with her.

"I thought you were coming alone," he commented. Internally, he was mapping out the additional risks and complications of having two other people along for what he and Katie were planning. It was already risky enough with just the two of them, and they had been practicing their stealth and infiltration skills for months now. These two amateurs were going to get them all thrown in prison, or worse. He shoved those thoughts aside as he closed the door behind himself.

"So did I," Pidge answered dryly. "But my fellow Postulants were concerned for my well-being when they saw me sneak off on my own and followed me. Anyway, that's not important right now. Let's get out of here. I trust you actually have a plan?" Keith snorted sarcastically.

"I wouldn't have asked you to risk everything to get in here if I didn't," He replied as he

Once the four of them were all inside the lift cage, he pressed his palm against the glass plate and the lift began to rise toward the top of the Iron Tower. Keith held his breath as they passed the floor that held the Obscurist Magnus' office and living quarters, afraid of being discovered. But thankfully, nothing happened, and the lift continued moving smoothly upward along its rails until it stopped to let them off at the Gardens.

"Hurry," he whispered to the others as he led them toward a padded couch sitting conspicuously in the back of the garden. "This is our exit."

"Great," Lance commented. "We can all have a nice stroll before we get arrested for high treason."

"We're not sitting around," Keith commented as he gestured for Pidge to help him move the Translation equipment over to the couch. Once the equipment was ready, Pidge grabbed the vials out of her bag and handed them to Keith without saying a word. Keith pulled out the alchemical calix from his own bag and set it down on the bench next to the couch. Without prompting, Pidge opened each vial and then emptied them into the calix. Mercury, vitriol, salt, sal ammoniac, and a few other compounds they'd discovered through trial and error went into the calix.

"Can this wait until after we've gotten out of here?" Lance asked, the irritation in his voice betraying the unease he felt at the whole situation. Keith glared in the Postlant's direction as he held his hand over the container.

"Not until we know they can't track me," Keith replied as he calmed himself. _Patience yields focus,_ he reminded himself as he channeled his quintessence to combine the different elements and compounds and transmute them into a virulent mixture that would do exactly what he wanted it to do. Pidge pulled the bandana off her face and rolled it up.

"Hold his arms," she directed the other two as Keith opened his mouth and bit down into the folded cloth. He braced himself for the pain as Lance and Hunk each nervously grabbed one of his arms on the bench. Pidge grabbed the calix and walked around behind the bench. As soon as Lance and Hunk realized what was about to happen, Keith felt their grips tighten in nervous anticipation.

"This might sting a little," Pidge warned him. And with that, she held the bubbling mixture over the metal surface above the base of his neck and poured it out. The acidic concoction melted through the metal in seconds and Keith screamed through the fabric in his bound and jumped up as the acid began to burn his skin. Pidge instantly ran up and began dabbing the chemicals off his neck with a sponge and carefully rubbing in the creams and other medicines she'd packed to treat acid burns. As the pain ebbed away, Keith reached up, his hand trembling from a combination of pain, fear, and anticipation before he pulled the golden collar off his neck.

 _I'm free,_ was the only thought in his head as he stared at the shackle the Library had placed around his neck when they first discovered he was an Obscurist two years ago. He'd been taking his entrance exams at the Library when he'd accidentally accessed the formulae. As soon as the Instructors realized this, he'd been detained and sent straight to the Iron Tower. He hadn't been allowed outside since then, and only his contact with Shiro kept him sane. After Shiro disappeared, his and Katie's quests had helped him focus. But now, after so long wondering if he'd ever set foot outside the Iron Tower again, he was finally free. Pidge's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"They'll know your collar's offline," she said as she ordered Lance to sit on the couch. _Right,_ Keith reminded himself as he focused on the task at hand. _Got to get out of here before I can celebrate my freedom._ He tossed the collar into the bushes and sighed in relief, fighting back the tears of joy that he was no longer bound to the Iron Tower. It was time for their escape. As Lance took a seat on the couch, Keith placed the helmet portion of the equipment on the Postulant's head and placed his hands atop the equipment.

"The connection's clean," Keith reassured Lance. "So this shouldn't hurt. Send Pidge a Codex message when you arrive." As he closed his eyes and channeled his quintessence into the machine, a column of orange symbols rose into the air around the two of them and began to revolve. The formulae moved slowly at first before picking up speed until it was just a blurring tornado of orange light. Then Keith jerked his hands away, and the light contracted into a tight, whirling circle around Lance body. The circle drew in on itself into a single, brilliant orange point of light, and Lance folded in on himself in an instantaneous flash of blood sprays, torn flesh, and bone fragments before the empty metal helmet fell with a soft _thunk_ onto the couch cushion where Lance had just been sitting moments ago.

Hunk threw up in the bushes, at the sight as they waited for the message. Keith tapped his leg in anticipation for two minutes before Pidge's Codex finally buzzed. She pulled it out and checked it for messages.

"He made it through," she reported before gesturing for Hunk to get on the couch. "You're up, Hunk."

"Oh man," Hunk groaned as he wiped the vomit from his mouth. "I hate Translation. Why can't you go first?"

"Someone's got to stand guard," Pidge replied, indicating the gun in her bag. "Just close your eyes Hunk. Close your eyes and think about the blue sky and the clouds moving over it. Focus on the white clouds moving over a blue sky." As she repeated her reassurances, Hunk managed to calm down and relax. As she continued to reassure her classmate, she nodded for Keith to Translate the other Postulant. The orange light formed and symbols swirled. Then Hunk screamed as the light snapped in on itself. Because of the distance to travel and the different time zones involved, prospective students at the library took the entrance exams two days before Postulants in Europe did, and were Translated over to London to take the train to Alexandria from King's Cross station.

 _Clearly Hunk didn't have a pleasant experience Translating over from America,_ Keith thought to himself as Pidge's Codex buzzed and she sat down on the couch, choosing to put the helmet on herself. He closed his eyes and focused his quintessence into the alchemical formulae and in a flash of light, Pidge was gone, leaving him alone in the gardens. The sound of the lift heading down indicated that the Tower security had caught on to the infiltration, so it was time for him to get out while he still could. Without hesitation, he jumped over the back of the couch and placed the helmet over his own head. _Patience yields focus,_ he repeated to himself as he focused on the imaginary clouds Pidge had used to calm Hunk. He sensed the orange glow of the formulae peeking through his eyelids, followed by a flash of pain, and then, darkness.

* * *

 **The descriptions of translation are taken directly from the books. It's very nauseating and everyone in the series hates using it for long-distance transportation.**

 **The "-X-" bit is a symbol that appears in encrypted codex exchanges in the books as a way for the Obscurist masking the monitoring elements to say "end transmission" or something like that.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Ephemera:**

* * *

 **Text of a message from the Artifex Magnus to the Archivist Magister, marked URGENT.**

 _"_ _I've just spoken with the Obscurist Magnus. Apparently Kogane had managed to hide a second, unregistered codex in his quarters and disguise entries so that he might communicate with his co-conspirators outside the Tower without being detected. The security of the Iron Tower has been increased in response to the incident to prevent another escape attempt. The High Garda assigned to monitor the boy were discovered bound and gagged in his bedroom._

 _I warned you. I told you that we were too lenient with Kogane. The Obscurist Magnus underestimated the extent of the boy's defiance. And now, there are three more accomplices to this treason. Witnesses questioned reported seeing three youths whose appearance matched the descriptions of some of our incoming Postulants. After investigating which ones were missing, we discovered something more. The student Pidge Gunderson was an alias being used by none other than Samuel Holt's daughter._

 _Something must be done before their heresy spreads and the truth of the Lunar Exploration Project leaks out into the world. I can have them captured and delivered to the Serapeum in Rome within three hours if you wish, but I would prefer more permanent methods._

 **Reply from the Archivist Magister, marked URGENT.**

 _Regrettably, you were right. I should have kept a closer eye on the boy. But there is nothing that can be done about that. There is only one path forward now. Investigate the three children's parents. If they are genuinely ignorant of their offspring's treason, they are to be left alone. Only bring them in for questioning if it becomes clear that they know something. As for the children, my heart is heavy just thinking it, but there is only one option to preserve the Library and the secrecy of the project._

 _Kill them all."_

* * *

 **Chapter 3:**

* * *

Lance rubbed his hands over Hunk's back as his friend vomited over the Translation chamber. Their arrival had been a little bumpy, and Lance was still feeling nauseous, but at least they were still alive. A few seconds later, Pidge reconstituted in the chair behind them and wobbled a bit. Despite his frustration with his fellow Postulant for getting them into this mess, he still went and moved over to help them stand.

"So how do you know this guy, anyway?" he asked as Hunk wiped off his face and climbed shakily to his feet.

"Keith contacted me a few weeks after my father and brother disappeared," Pidge replied.

"Your father?" Lance inquired, confused as to what this had to do with Pidge breaking into the Iron Tower with the help of a rogue Obscurist.

"Samuel Holt," she answered. Lance's eyes widened. His mother had worked at the Serapeum near their house, and even among the low-ranked clerks, Scholar Samuel Holt was a legend within the hallowed halls of the Library. But there was just one thing that wasn't adding up. From what little Serapeum librarians knew about the man's personal life, he only had one son and one daughter.

"Wait," Lance said as his brain finished putting the pieces together. "YOU'RE A GIRL!?" Pidge immediately gestured for him to be silent as her Obscurist friend began to materialize in the chair in the center of the room.

"My real name is Katie Holt," she explained. "Pidge was my brother's nickname for me when we were kids."

"Hang on," Hunk interjected. "I remember reading in the newspaper a year ago that your dad and your brother had been killed in a Burner attack along with Takashi Shirogane."

"The obituary was just a cover story for the public," Keith explained as he stood up. Pidge raced over and helped him up as he walked towards the rest of the group. "All of them are still alive."

"And how do you know, mullet?" Lance asked. In the background, Pidge set Hunk's codex on fire with an old lighter to break the connection to the archives.

"Because I received a codex message from Shiro _after_ the Artifex Magnus decided to declare them all dead," Keith answered as he poked his head out the door of the Translation chamber to see if the coast is clear.

"What were they doing that the Artifex Magnus declared them dead, exactly?" Hunk inquired as Keith removed a dagger from his belt and Pidge reloaded her pistol. The two conspirators looked at each other. Judging by the looks in their eyes, Lance guessed that they were trying to decide who would be the one to explain everything.

"In the early sixties," Keith began. "The Library administration created a secret project to explore beyond Earth's atmosphere." Lance's eyes widened. His family had heard whispers and rumors about a secret space exploration program. But all this time, he'd thought they were just that. Rumors. Nothing more. But now?

"You mean…? " the postulant began. Keith nodded.

"Shiro and the Holts were the first human beings to set foot on the moon," the Obscurist replied. Lance rocked on his feet in surprise at that revelation. He'd always wanted to go into space, and to learn that his hero had blazed a trail for humanity and planted the Library's flag on the moon was a huge deal for him. But something didn't make sense.

"But why would the Library cover it up?" Lance asked. "Why would they not tell us about this?"

"Everyone working on the project, and their families, were sworn to secrecy," Pidge explained. "The Archivist didn't want public outcry if anything went wrong. But the Artifex Magnus was against the idea of the project from the very beginning, so as soon as it looked like Shiro and my family had been killed, he washed his hands of the project and swept it all under the rug." But before Lance could ask any further, that jerk with the mullet interrupted.

"We can't stay here," Keith said. "The Artifex Magnus will have been notified of my escape. We don't have much time before they figure out where we went and sent the High Garda after us. We need to get out of here. Follow me." Lance grumbled as he and Hunk followed the other two out the door and into the corridor. The quartet made their way through the twisting halls of the building before they discreetly slipped out of the hidden passage into the public spaces of a Serapeum.

Lance was sweating nervously as he, Pidge, Hunk, and Keith made their way past. As much as he detested admitting it, the kid with the mullet was right. It was reasonable to worry that the authorities in Alexandria had arrived in the Iron Tower's Translation Chamber in time to determine their destination and notify the High Garda at wherever it was that they'd ended up. And what would they tell his family about all of this? What would _he_ tell them? These fears continued to gnaw at him even after they slipped out of the front doors by hiding amidst a departing crowd.

Tears welled up in Keith's eyes as he stepped out of the Serapeum and into the open air. For the first time since he'd been dragged kicking and screaming into the gilded cage that was the Iron Tower, he was finally free. On reflex, he reached up towards where the golden collar they'd shackled around his throat used to be. The fact that it was no longer locked around his neck was a sensation of both confusion and ecstasy. With Lance, Hunk, and Pidge following behind him, he broke away from the crowd once they reached the edge of the plaza surrounding the Serapeum.

The former Obscurist sighed once they crossed the boundary line into the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico. In most countries, the library had no authority in a sovereign nation outside the boundaries of a Serapeum. But widespread Burner activity throughout the American territory had resulted in the Library taking direct control of the government. They wouldn't be safe until they left the country, and they weren't leaving until he and Pidge got what they were looking for. They left Lance and Hunk in an alleyway next to a local inn while they went inside to rent a room. Keith just hoped those two wouldn't get themselves caught in the meantime.

Renting a room didn't take long, but with the fear of being recaptured, it felt like an eternity to Keith. He and Pidge had each packed enough money to cover their expenses, and the innkeeper easily bought their cover story of a young man taking his little sister on a sightseeing trip for her birthday. Neither of them used their real names, and Pidge used a different alias to avoid attracting suspicion. Then, when the innkeeper's back was turned, he and Pidge wrote different names in the guestbook than what the room was registered under. Once they had the room key, Pidge ducked outside to lead Lance and Hunk upstairs through the back entrance. While she did that, Keith walked up to the third floor to inspect their room.

Compared to his luxurious quarters inside the Iron Tower, the room was a dump. But he didn't care. It had all the comforts he needed, and that was enough. He'd hated the extravagance of the Tower anyway, so this was much more comfortable to him. As he sat down on the couch, he opened the bag he'd brought with him and went through the few belongings he'd considered his. Looking back, it struck him as sad how much his life had changed. He was jolted out of his reminiscing by a knock at the door, causing him to fall off the couch in surprise.

He moved as carefully and quietly toward the door as he could, and he only let out the breath he'd been holding when he confirmed that it was just Pidge, Lance, and Hunk. He opened the door and let them in before he closed it behind them and secured the lock. With all four of them safely at their destination, it was time to explain his and Katie's plan to their uninvited guests.

* * *

 **The next chapter will cover Shiro's crash landing and add in his POV to the roster. I'm going to keep the chapter POVs to just the five Paladins for now, but I do plan to add Allura and Coran to the roster if/when I come up with enough plot ideas for the sequel. I'm having a bit of a creative dry spell in terms of writing this story, so it might be at least another month or two before I finish the next chapter. I just haven't had the energy to write lately, but I at least wanted to get this chapter finished. Hopefully, my creative juices will start flowing again once I'm done with school next week, but for now, it'll get done when it gets done.**


End file.
